ELOHIM

They are God

Poly-Monotheism

How Three Became God

Through Moses and the Prophets

By
Ben Shlomo

Published by Sefer Press Publishing House 2015

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 Copyright©2015 All Rights Reserved

ISBN: 978-0692392645

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Printed in the United States of America 2015

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 Bible Abbreviations

NASB-New American Standard Bible

EMTV-English Majority Text Version

ESV-English Standard Version

HRB-Hebrew Roots Bible

TSB-The Scriptures Bible 1998

YLT-Young’s Literal Translation 1898

ISV-International Standard Version

*If no Bible abbreviation is shown then translation is that

of the author.

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 Table of Contents

Introduction…………………………………..pg.5

Moses………………………………………...pg.11
Our Image and Our Likeness……………...pg.19

Abraham………………………………….....pg.24
Word of YHWH…………………………...pg.25
Messenger of YHWH……………………...pg.27
Covenant…………………………………...pg.28
YHWH, YHWH And YHWH……………..pg.29
Nail in the Coffin…………………………..pg.37
Isaac………………………………………..pg.41
Jacob……………………………………….pg.43
Another Nail in the Coffin…………………pg.48
The Hammer to the Nail…………...............pg.50
Israel’s (Jacobs) Final Blessing……………pg.51

Prophets….…………………………………..pg.55
Moses………………………………………pg.55
To See or Not To See………………………pg.61
The Shema of Moses……………………….pg.63
Joshua………………………………………pg.68
Judges………………………………………pg.71
Samuel……………………………………...pg.76
Kings………………………………………..pg.78
Isaiah………………………………………..pg.79
Hosea………………………………………..pg.83
Conclusion….…………………………………pg.86

Appendix A: The Aleph of YHWH….………..pg.88

Appendix B: The New Testament….………….pg.90
Appendix C: A Former Rabbi Speaks Out…….pg.92
Appendix D: Some Early Jewish Sources……..pg.97

Bibliography….……………………………….pg.103
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 INSTRODUCTION

While the New Testament definitely mentions the

concepts of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
(Matthew28:19), it makes no actual mention of the
word “trinity,” and there is still some contention as to
whether the trinity god-head is a biblical theme.
Modern Judaism teaches pure monotheism, while
Catholicism favors the trinity concept. Yet, it is
believed, it is clearly a concept that was influenced by
pagan religions existing at the time that Christianity
came about. While the majority of the modern
Christian world considers the concept of the Trinity
vital to Christianity, many historians and Bible
scholars agree that the Trinity of Christianity owes
more to Greek philosophy and pagan polytheism than
to the monotheism of the Jew and the Jewish Jesus.
This book will prove to show the opposite. It is not
Christianity that owes more to Greek philosophy and
pagan polytheism but that they owe more to ancient
Judaism and to the belief of the three powers in
heaven pre-Christian era. Did 1st century followers of
Yeshua (Jesus) borrow from pagan sources regarding
a trinity god or did the ancient world borrow from the
Hebrew and Jewish people? Did the ancient Hebrew
believe and teach in a three person God that was then
adopted by the rest of the world? These questions and
many others will be examined and answered from this
book.

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Records of early Mesopotamian and Mediterranean
civilizations show polytheistic religions, though many
scholars assert that earliest man believed in one god. I
will assert the belief that earliest man always
maintained a polytheistic belief while holding to a
one god teaching. Egyptologist, Erick Hornung states
the following, “[Monotheism is] a phenomenon
restricted to the wisdom texts, which were written
between 2600 and 2530 BC (50-51); but there is no
question that ancient man believed in ‘one infinite
and Almighty Creator, supreme over all’ and in a
multitude of gods at a later point. Nor is there any
doubt that the most common grouping of gods was a
triad.”

Most of ancient theology is lost under the sands of

time. However, an archaeological expedition in
ancient Mesopotamia has uncovered the fascinating
culture of the Sumerians which flourished over 4,000
years ago. Though Sumeria was overthrown first by
Assyria, and then by Babylon, its gods lived on in the
cultures of those who conquered. Historian S. H.
Hooke tells in detail of the ancient Sumerian trinity:
Anu was the primary god of heaven, the ‘Father’ and
the ‘King of the Gods’; Enlil, the ‘wind-god’ was the
god of the earth and a creator god; and Enki was the
god of waters and the ‘lord of wisdom’. H. W. F.
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Saggs, explains that the Babylonian triad consisted of
‘three gods of roughly equal rank... whose inter-
relationship is of the essence of their natures’.
Egypt’s history is similar to Sumeria’s in antiquity. In
his Egyptian Myths, George Hart, lecturer for the
British Museum and professor of ancient Egyptian
hieroglyphics at the University of London, shows
how Egypt also believed in a ‘transcendental’, above
creation, and preexisting’ one, the god Amun. Amun
was really three gods in one. Ra was his face, Ptah his
body and Amun his hidden identity. The well-known
historian Will Durant concurs that Ra, Amun and
Ptah were ‘combined as three embodiments or aspects
of one supreme and triune deity’ (Oriental Heritage
201). Additionally, a hymn to Amun written in the
14th century BC defines the Egyptian trinity: ‘All
Gods are three: Amun, Re, Ptah; they have no equal.
His name is hidden as Amun, he is Ra...before [men]
and his body is Ptah’.

These were not the only trinities early Christians were

exposed to. The historical lecturer, Jesse Benedict
Carter, tells us of the Etruscans. As they slowly
passed from Babylon through Greece and went on to
Rome, they brought with them their trinity of Tinia,
Uni and Menerva. This trinity was a ‘new idea to the
Romans,’ and yet it became so ‘typical of Rome’ that
it quickly spread throughout Italy. Even the names of
the Roman trinity: Jupiter, Juno and Minerva, reflect
the ancestry. That Christianity was not ashamed to
borrow from pagan culture is amply assumed by
Durant: ‘Christianity did not destroy paganism; it
adopted it’.

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Did Christianity and the Jewish followers of Yeshua
(Jesus) really borrow from pagan cultures as Durant
states? Or did the Jewish and ancient Hebrew people
already have this belief long before the other cultures
as stated above?

In summary, the common culture of the day was one

filled with triune gods. From ancient Sumeria’s Anu,
Enlil and Enki and Egypt’s dual trinities of Amun-Re-
Ptah and Isis, Osiris and Horus to Rome’s Jupiter,
Juno and Minerva the whole concept of paganism
revolved around the magic number of three. In Greek
philosophy, also, we have seen how the number three
was used as an unspecified trinity of intelligence,
mind and reason. It is no dispute that the majority of
ancient cultures were polytheistic and in some cases
had a pantheon of gods they worshiped. According to
most modern Jewish scholars the idea that Moses and
the prophets believed or worshipped a triune god is
blasphemy. But as we will see that is not the case.
Professor Alan F. Segal, professor of Jewish Studies
at Barnard College, demonstrates in his book, Two
Powers in Heaven, that up until the 2nd century of the
CE the Jews from certain sects taught and believed in
a two powers in heaven concept. This concept was
widespread by the first century during the time of
Yeshua (Jesus). Though Professor Segal only
demonstrates two powers in heaven teaching I will
demonstrate three powers in heaven directly from the
Hebrew Scriptures.

The challenge I will be taking on will be to

demonstrate directly from the Hebrew Bible that
Moses and the prophets wrote about a plural concept

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of God called Elohim without losing the idea of a
singular YHWH. The key will be to show the plural
persons within Elohim under the singular name of
YHWH without violating the Shema (Hear) of Israel,

“Hear O’ Israel, YHWH our Elohim, YHWH is ONE”

The reader must understand that in the Hebrew Bible

Elohim is not unique to God. Idols, men and Angels
have been called Elohim and its singular form El.
Even the title “son of God” is not unique to just
Yeshua (Jesus). The judges of Israel were called
“sons of the most high” and “Elohim” in Psalm 82.
The difference is that they failed to live up to the
authority and position given to them by God himself.
The name “Elohim” has behind it the understanding
of one with power and authority to judge. It is also a
plural of the singular “Eloa” by adding the suffix
“hym” at the end to form the third person plural
“they, God”. It is this third person plural form we will
be looking at in the Hebrew Bible. I will also be
showing some ancient Hebrew concepts using the
Hebrew aleph-bet and how it provides a basic
foundation for a triune God belief. Finally I will quote
from ancient Jewish sources concerning the 2nd power
while proving the 3rd power from the same Jewish
sources. The New Covenant Scriptures will be used
only to show the familiarity the Jewish followers had
concerning the three powers in heaven as taught from
the Hebrew Scriptures.

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 INTRODUCTION SOURCES

Durant, Will. Our Oriental Heritage. New York:

Simon. 1935. Vol. 1 of The Story of Civilization. 11
vols. 1935-75.

—Caesar and Christ. New York: Simon. 1944. Vol. 3

of The Story of Civilization. 11 vols. 1935-75.

Hart, George. Egyptian Myths. Austin: U of Texas.

1990.

Hislop, Alexander. The Two Babylons: Or, the Papal

Worship. 1853. 2nd American ed. Neptune: Loizeaux.
1959.

Hooke, S. H. Babylonian and Assyrian Religion.

Norman: U of Oklahoma P. c1963.

Hornung, Erik. Conceptions of God in Ancient Egypt:

The One and the Many. Trans. John Baines. Ithaca:
Cornell UP. 1982.

Segal, Alan F. Two Powers In Heaven: The Baylor

University Press, Waco Texas 2012 reprint.

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 MOSES

Let us begin from the beginning and start with the

greatest prophet known to modern and ancient
Judaism, Moses. The reader must first understand that
Moses did not write the first five books, known as the
Torah, in English. He wrote them in the ancient
Hebrew language as instructed by God. Before
Yeshua (Jesus) the Jews only had the Hebrew
Scriptures known as the Torah and the Prophets. They
were all considered Holy and breathed by God with
inspiration. Moses was considered the greatest of all
the prophets that ever lived. Moses was looked at as a
god like figure since it was God himself who worked
his powers through him. In Exodus 7:1 we read the
following,

“And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `See, I have given

thee a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron thy brother is thy
prophet;” (1898 Young’s Literal Translation)

This is a better translation than most since it

recognizes the Hebrew word “n’tatiykha” as “I give
you” and not as “I have made you” as most
translations have done. What this is telling us is that
God “gave” Moses “Elohim” or “power/authority”
over Pharaoh. He did not make Moses a god as some
have suggested. With this power and authority given
by God, Moses would be able to act as judge toward
Pharaoh with Gods power behind him. No other
prophet in the history of the Hebrew/Jewish people
has risen to this status with the power of God.

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Therefore Moses’ writings, as directed by God, hold
just as much authority to judge the Jewish people and
nation than any other prophet in the Hebrew Bible up
until the Messiah Yeshua (Jesus). In John’s narrative
he quotes Yeshua (Jesus) as saying,

“Do not suppose that I will be the one to accuse you

before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom
you have set your hope…” (John 5:45 ISV)

The one who will judge and accuse the Jewish people
is Moses because they did not believe him concerning
Yeshua (Jesus) as the Messiah and, as we will see, the
2nd power in heaven.

In the Hebrew scrolls we read the writings of Moses

from Beresheet 1 (Genesis)

‫בראׁשית ברא אלהים את הׁשמים ואת הארץ‬

“In a beginning he filled and formed, Elohim, the
skies and the land” (literal Hebrew to English of
Genesis 1:1)

Moses wrote this before we had any understanding of

Modern Hebrew grammar. We do not know what
type of grammar was being used or if they even had
any. In ancient Hebrew each character was a word
and number in itself. For example, the first Hebrew
character was the “aleph” which is equivalent to our
Modern English “A”. The old Hebrew “aleph” was
also a word that meant “ox” and had a numerical
value of “one” being the first character or letter in
Hebrew. This is the same with all the 22 Hebrew
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characters from “aleph” to “taw”. Ancient Hebrew,
like most ancient Semitic languages, started out as
pictographs like Egyptian Hieroglyphics. Let’s look
at a few examples of how these characters were used
in order to understand how Moses used and
understood the Hebrew he was writing.

Ancient Hebrew, like Modern Hebrew, was written

from right to left. When we look at the first
pictograph we see what looks like the head of an ox.
This is the “aleph” or “ox” in English. The ox
represents a leader and strength. In the English Bible
this Hebrew word is sometimes translated not as “ox”
but as “chiefs” or “governors” as in Exodus 15:15 and
Zechariah 12:5. The second pictograph above is the
“bet” and means “tent” or “house”. You can see the
entrance of the tent with a dividing wall. This is a
view from above. This Hebrew character is translated
in the English Bible as “house” or “household” and
“inside” as in Genesis 7:1, Leviticus 14:41 and
Genesis 6:14. As a prefix it can also have the
meaning of “in”, “with” or “within”.

These are the first two characters of the ancient

Hebrew aleph-bet and when you put them together
you form the word “ab” which means “father” in
English. Now “father” is an abstract word in English
but in Hebrew words are concrete and have meaning.
The concrete meaning of “ab” is based off the

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pictograph meanings. We have here the meaning of
“a leader or chief of the tent or home”. Simply put,
“the master of the home” is “ab”.

It must also be noted that the “aleph” was seen as a

character for God because it was the first letter and
had a numerical value of one. As God is first, chief
and master of us all yet he is also one like the
“aleph”.

There are a number of Hebrew scholars who agree

that almost every Hebrew word comes from a parent
root. A parent root is a word with only two letters to
it. The example of “ab” shows the parent root word
for “father” in Hebrew. Another example of this is the
singular form of God in Hebrew, “El”.

As you can see you have again the ancient Hebrew

“aleph” being represented in the word “El” or God in
singular form. The second ancient Hebrew character
is the “lamed” and looks like a shepherds staff. The
Hebrew word “lamed” means “staff” or “rod”. A staff
or rod was used to teach or control the sheep. The
Hebrew word “lamad” comes from “lamed” and
means to teach or to study to be accustomed to. You
see this translation in Deuteronomy 5:1 and 6:1.
Together these two ancient Hebrew pictographs form
the word “El” which means God, singular. The
concrete meaning is “the master who leads” or “the
strong leader who teaches and leads”. God is our
master teacher who leads us to still waters.

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So why is this all so important to know and
understand? Because in the opening passage of
Genesis 1:1 we see the Hebrew word for “create” as
“bara”. When using the Aramaic square script for
Hebrew it looks like this.

A R B

We see the “bara” from right to left. If you remove

the “A” from “bara” you will have the word “bar” in
Hebrew. This Hebrew word is translated as “son” in
English. It could be safe to assume that the Hebrew
“bar” is a parent root for “bara” or “create” in the
majority of English translations. If you noticed in my
more literal translation of Genesis 1:1 I did not use
the word “create”. Instead I translated “bara” to “fill”
and “form”. The reason for this is because the
Hebrew word “bara” does not mean “create” as used
to create out of nothing. Its literal meaning is “to fill”
and “to form”. You see this reason to fill and form in
verse 2 of Genesis 1 where Moses says,

“The land was formless and empty…”

If the land was formless and empty then it needed to

be filled and formed by God. This is what “bara” is
referring to when he says “he filled and formed the
skies and the land”. But who is the “bara” when it
literally means “he filled and formed” in the third
person singular? The very next Hebrew word is

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Elohim and this word literally means “they, God” in
the third person plural. But as we stated before the
parent root word is “bar” or “son” in English. The
“aleph” represents God in Hebrew as we mentioned
before. So if we look at the word “son” and add the
“aleph” as a suffix we can see the word “son of God”
that filled and formed. It is the “bar” “aleph” or “son”
of “God” who is the “he” who filled and formed the
skies and the land. It is the “son of God” who is part
of Elohim, “they, God” who also took part in
creation. Now there will be Hebrew scholars who will
claim that one can not make this assertion based on
the Hebrew grammar. That is because in Hebrew a
verb like “bara” which is a third person singular for
“create” can not leave the Hebrew “Elohim” as a
plural. The verb must modify the plural noun,
“Elohim”, to a singular usage. Well this is true when
only looking at the Hebrew grammar one cannot still
know for certain if this is what Moses meant.

The Jerusalem Edition of the Zohar in its comments

on Genesis 1:1 explains why Moses believed that God
is triune.

“In the beginning God created. ‘In the beginning’ is

the first mystery from where all else spreads…The
name takes three forms and from there the name is
interpreted in several ways…Rabbi Bechai explained:
Elohim is El Haym. They are God. ‘Remember your
creators’, (Ecclesiastes 12:1). The wise will
understand”

You see this in the ancient Sumerian trinity: Anu was

the primary god of heaven, the ‘Father’ and the ‘King

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of the Gods’; Enlil, the ‘wind-god’ was the god of the
earth and a creator god; and Enki was the god of
waters and the ‘lord of wisdom’.

The spirit of Elohim, (they, God), hovered over the

face of the waters is similar to Enki the ‘god of
waters’ and who was the ‘lord of wisdom’. If one
believes that Moses was writing the true origin of
creation then we can assume it was the Sumerians
who borrowed from the oral traditions of the ancient
Hebrews before Moses wrote them. But this is not our
only evidence for such a claim.

In the very next passage of Genesis 1 we read the

following,

‫ויאמר אלהים יהי אור ויהי־אור‬

“And Elohim said, ‘be light and light was’”.

According to the ancient sages and Rabbis this “light”

is King Messiah. They were puzzled by this “light”
existing before the creation of the sun, moon and
stars. They were drawn to another unique “light” in
Psalm 36:9.

“For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we

see light.”

The light within the light, says one Midrash, is King

Messiah as David recognized.

“What is the meaning of ‘in your light we see light’?

For what light is Israel waiting for? This is the light

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of Messiah as it says, ‘And God saw the light that it
was good.’ This teaches us that the Holy One, blessed
by he, observed the Messiah and his deeds before the
creation of the world and concealed his Messiah
under his throne until his generation”
(Pesikta Rabbati, 36)

According to the narrative of John Yeshua (Jesus)

said, “I am the Light of the world, he who follows Me
will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light
of life.” (John 8:12 NASB)

So far we have seen three powers from Genesis 1:1-3.

We have seen the “bara” which can be looked at as
“son of God” who filled and formed the skies and the
land. We then read Elohim calling out the light in
creation who is also King Messiah, Son of God. We
then saw the “spirit of God” hovering over the waters.
The voice, the light and the spirit of God within the
opening of Genesis is well understood by Moses.

Rabbi Eliezer Hakkalir, commenting in the Sefer

Yetsira, teaches the following.

“When God created the world He created it through

the three sephiroth [countings]-sepher, sapher and
sipper by which three beings are meant. The Rabbi,
my lord and my teacher of blessed memory, explained
that sepher, sapher and sipper are synonymous with
Yah, YHWH and Elohim, meaning to say that the
world was created by these three names.”

The New Covenant Scriptures also makes this claim

that Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) was involved in creation

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from the beginning. Shaul (Paul) who was a 1st
century Pharisee trained under Gamliel in the school
of Hillel made this claim concerning Yeshua (Jesus).

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn

over all creation, because by Him all things were
created, those in the heavens and those on earth,
visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or
rulers or authorities; all things have been created
through Him and for Him. And He is before all
things, and in Him all things are held together.”
(Colossians 1:15-17 EMTV)

We must make a careful note on the term “firstborn”.

This ancient Hebrew word does not mean one who is
created but has a meaning of “order of importance”.
As we can now see from the follower Shaul (Paul),
Yeshua (Jesus) was creator of all things in heaven and
on earth. Shaul (Paul) is making the claim that
Yeshua (Jesus) is the 2nd power in the Hebrew
Scriptures. This is a consistent theme in the New
Covenant concerning Yeshua (Jesus).

Our Image and Our Likeness

As we continue to look at the writings of Moses in
Beresheet (Genesis) this next passage in the text is
puzzling to most Jewish scholars. It reads as
following.

‫ויאמר אלהים נעׂשה אדם בצלמנו כדמותנו‬

“We will press and squeeze human in figure of us and
as shape of us” (Literal Translation Gen.1:26)

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When we translate this text into a more literal form of
English we should not be surprised that Elohim (they,
God) has made us to look like them. We are in
THIER figure and shape and not the other way
around. People get upset when we compare our image
to Gods. They are not in our image, we are in theirs.
This is what Genesis 1:26 says directly from the
Hebrew and there is no way around it. But what does
“we” and “our” mean in the text?

Through out the century’s many have tried to explain

this passage away by saying God was either speaking
to the angels in heaven or that this expression of “we”
and “our” is a form of “plural of majesty”. Nothing
can be farther from the truth. This idea of pressing
and squeezing comes from the Hebrew word “asah”,
in the Piel form and has the idea of fashioning by
squeezing together like clay. We see this idea in
Genesis 2:7 where Moses writes,

“And YHWH Elohim formed the human…”

The “formed” here in the Hebrew is “yatsar” and also

means “the squeezing into shape” or “mold into a
form” especially as a potter handling his clay. No
where in the Hebrew Scriptures do we see this type of
creation of the angels in heaven. This is a unique
shaping and forming of humans into the very figure
of Elohim (they, God) from the dust of the ground.

In regards to the “plural of majesty” argument, there

is no record in the ancient world of such an
expression until around the 13th or 14th century in
Europe where a king would elevate himself to a god

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like statues by invoking a “plural of majesty”. A king
would express “our presence” when he was the only
one in the room. He would be including himself and
God as equals in his kingdom. This was very common
among kings in Europe and Jews took this idea to
explain Genesis 1:26. So neither the angels nor plural
of majesty theory can explain away the plural text of
Genesis 1:26. In fact the very next passage, Genesis
1:27, states the following.

“And Elohim created the human in His image, in the

image of Elohim He created him – male and female
He created the”

This passage has a couple of unique expressions in

the Hebrew. First, the word “created” is the same
word translated in most English Bibles in Genesis
1:1. This is also the Hebrew word “bara” which I
translated as “filled” and “formed”. God did not
create man from out of nothing but shaped and
formed him from the dust of the ground. God then
filled him with his breath and man became a living
being (soul). Just as the skies and land were filled and
formed so also was man from the ground.

Second, the word “image” is the very same word used

in verse 26 but this time it is used in the third person
singular form “he created”. Again, Moses is writing
and expressing this singular and plural nature of
Elohim (they, God). This “image” is the same
Hebrew word, tselem, which is used in describing the
making of idols and also describes man having
children in their own likeness and image. See for
examples of these usages in Genesis 5:3; Genesis 9:6;

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2Kings 11:18; 2Chron.23:17. The uniqueness of man
in relation to Elohim (they, God) is that we resemble
them as one being in the very image and likeness of
his creators.

The “us” and “we” in connection to Elohim (they,

God) is also repeated before we get to Abraham. In
Genesis 3:22 Elohim expresses mans fall as man
becoming “like one of us” in the plural form. Being
like Elohim (they, God) in knowing good and evil is
becoming like them according to Moses. We see this
expression again in Genesis 11:7 where YHWH said,

“Come, let us go down and there confuse their

language, so they will not understand language.”

Who was YHWH talking to when he said, “let us go

down…”? According to Moses it was YHWH who
scattered and confused their language in verses 8 and
9. One can only assume, at this point, that Moses
knew what he was talking about when he combined
the singular and plural form of words to YHWH
Elohim (they, God). It is when we get to Abraham
that we start to see the unfolding and revealing of the
persons of Elohim (they, God) that Moses is writing
about.

Final note, we must understand that Moses does not

predate Adam to Abraham but he is recording what
God himself told him from Mount Sinai. So as we
start to see the story of Abraham as recorded by
Moses we need to understand that Moses is only
recording what he himself had heard and learned
regarding creation from the creator himself. Though

22
Abraham predates Moses I started with him in order
to show that from the beginning there was evidence
of a plural nature and form of Elohim (they, God) that
was given to Moses. So if Moses received this
knowledge of a plural YHWH Elohim (they, God)
then it would follow that he would write using
singular and plural expressions of YHWH Elohim in
the scroll of Genesis. This is exactly what we find as I
have shown in this section.

We will now look at the story of Abraham as written

by Moses concerning this plural God idea.

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 ABRAHAM

When Abraham’s father died he was in the land of

Haran. Terah, Abraham’s father, was 205 years old
when died according to Genesis 11:32. This will be
important later as we will see how YHWH called
Abraham. In the opening of Genesis 12 YHWH calls
to Abraham and tells him to go forth from his country
and from his relatives and from his father’s house to a
land that he would show him. YHWH promises
Abraham that he would make him a great nation and
that all the families of the land will be blessed
through him.

In Genesis 12:7 YHWH appears for the first time to

Abraham directly while he was in the district of
Shechem at the oak of Moreh. YHWH promises him
that he will give the land to his seed. Abraham then
builds and altar there to YHWH who had appeared to
him. We must take note that this is the first altar built
by Abraham because it was YHWH who appeared to
him and confirmed the calling and promise to him.

After Abraham and Lot separated from each other and

went their separate way YHWH spoke to Abraham
again from Canaan where he had settled. Abraham
then left and moved his tent and dwelt by the oaks of
Mamre in Hebron. Again Abraham built an altar to
YHWH who spoke to him, Genesis 13:14-18.

24
Word of YHWH
In Genesis 15:1 we read for the first time that the
Word of YHWH came to Abraham in a vision. In the
Hebrew text of this passage there is no article “the”
before “Word”. The literal English translation from
the Hebrew should be “Word YHWH”. It was Word
YHWH who came to Abraham in a vision.

‫אחר הדברים האלה היה דבר־יהוה‬

“After these things, Word YHWH came to Abram in a
vision…”

Abraham immediately recognized Word YHWH as

YHWH himself in verse 2 of Genesis 15. Abraham
responded by saying,

“O Adonai YHWH, what will you give me, since I am

childless…”

He invoked the very name of YHWH twice in

response to Him. Literally he said, “O YHWH
YHWH…” to Word YHWH. We must clearly
understand that Abraham was speaking to Word
YHWH who was YHWH and he began to tell
Abraham that he would have a child as promised with
descendents as numerous as the stars. Abraham
believed YHWH and it was at this point where his
faith was accounted to him as righteousness. The
Word YHWH then tells Abraham something that it
seems he didn’t know.

25
“And He said to him, I am YHWH who caused you to
come out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land
to inherit it.” (Genesis 15:7)

The Word of YHWH tells Abraham that he is YHWH

and it was Him who caused Abraham to depart from
Ur. This does not seem like the same YHWH who
appeared to him in the district of Shechem at the oak
of Moreh. The fact that the Word of YHWH has to
explain himself to Abraham about his actions tells
you that he is revealing himself for the first time to
Abraham. This appears to be the 2nd power known as
Word YHWH.

Note: I must explain the Hebrew word for “word” as

I did for “create” or “bara”. The Hebrew word for
“word” is “dabar”. If I remove the prefix letter “dalet”
or “D” from “dabar” I am left with “bar” or “son” in
English as was the case with “bara” when removing
the suffix “A” or “aleph” from “bara”. With both
Hebrew words I have “bar” or “son” as a parent root.
Now the prefix “dalet” for “dabar” in Hebrew means
a “door” as read in Genesis 19:6 and numerous other
passages in the Hebrew Bible. The “dalet” or “door”
symbolizes also a path or a way of life. This means
that the Word is the door or path of life to the Son.
This why in John’s narrative in the New Covenant
Scriptures you read,

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with Elohim, and Elohim was the Word…And the
Word became flesh and tabernacle among us”
(John 1:1; 14)

26
And, “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he
will be saved, and will go in and out and find
pasture.” (John 10:9 NASB)

So far from reading Genesis 12 to 15 we have two

YHWH’s who have been revealed to us. We have the
YHWH who called Abraham to leave his country and
fathers house. We then have the Word of YHWH or
Word YHWH who is also YHWH that caused
Abraham to depart from Ur and who also promised
him the land to possess. It appears that both are
separate and distinct from one another. But is there a
3rd power in heaven that is called YHWH?

Messenger of YHWH
In Genesis 16 we have Abraham who took Hagar at
his wife Sarah’s request in order to have a child by
her. She conceived a child and Sarah became jealous
and began to treat Hagar harshly. Hagar fled from her
to the wilderness where we read that Messenger of
YHWH first appears. This is the first recorded
appearance of the Messenger of YHWH in the
Hebrew Bible. He appears to Hagar by a spring of
water. The Messenger of YHWH tells her to return to
her mistress and to submit to her authority. In return
the Messenger of YHWH promises her that her
child’s descendents will be greatly multiplied, too
many to count. His name will be Ishmael and will be
a wild donkey of a man. In the end Hagar says
something most revealing about the Messenger of
YHWH in verse 13.

27
“Then she called the name of YHWH who spoke to
her, "You are God who sees"; for she said, "Have I
even remained alive here after seeing Him?"

Hagar proclaims the very character who spoke to her

as YHWH, the El who sees her. This Messenger
YHWH is YHWH himself. The Hebrew is clear and
just as the Word of YHWH is read “Word YHWH”
so also the Messenger of YHWH is read from the
Hebrew “Messenger YHWH”. There is a clear
distinction between these two individuals as we will
continue to see.

Covenant
In the very next chapter we have the covenant of
circumcision made to Abraham by YHWH Elohim. In
verse 1 of chapter 17 YHWH once again appears to
Abraham and declares himself the God that provides.
Elohim (they, God) speaks to Abraham and
establishes the covenant with him for every man and
child to get circumcised. God then tells Abraham that
his wife will bare a son for him and he will bless her
as a mother to the nations. Abraham laughs and
because he laughs at the thought of his wife, who is
90, having a son God declares the name of the son to
be Isaac, “He laughs”.

The next two chapters are very important at this time.

They will lay the foundation for the revealing of three
men or messengers who will appear to Abraham as
YHWH. The Hebrew will show that all three men or
messengers are called YHWH directly. The very
name will be shown to be applied to all three of them.
This is where people who read the English translation

28
will need to consult the Hebrew. The English Bibles
do not reflect what I am about to show from the
Hebrew directly.

YHWH, YWHW And YHWH

“And YHWH appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre,
as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day.
He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three
men were standing in front of him. When he saw
them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and
bowed himself to the earth…”

This is the opening of the first two verses of Genesis

18. We must first take note that it is YHWH who
appears to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre. The
Hebrew is clear that this is a literal appearance by
YHWH to Abraham and not some vision. Some
Jewish traditions have tried to explain this appearance
as being archangels namely Michael, Gabriel and
Raphael. Nothing can be further from the truth as we
will see in the next few passages in this chapter.

The next thing we must look at is the fact that

Abraham looked up and saw three men. He then ran
to meet the three men and bowed himself down to
them. The text is clear that Abraham was looking to
meet the three and not just one. Some have suggested
that Abraham was just bowing down to YHWH and
not the other two. As we will see from the rest of this
chapter and the next this is not the case.

“…and said, "O YHWH, if I have found grace in your

sight, do not pass by your servant.” (Genesis 18:3)

29
If your English Bible has “My Lord” or “My Lords”
it is wrong. The correct translation based on the
Hebrew is the name YHWH. In Hebrew you will find
the Hebrew word “Adonai” but this “Adonai” has the
vowel points that are only used for the name YHWH.
Vowel points are the small markings underneath or
above some of the Hebrew characters in a word.
According to Dr.Christian D. Ginsburg, who is a
Hebrew scholar and expert in the Hebrew translation
of the Massoretic scribes, there are 134 places in the
Hebrew Bible were the Jewish scribes replaced the
name YHWH with Adonai. One of those places in the
Hebrew Bible is Genesis 18:3 as translated earlier.

Note: In the ancient Hebrew predating the Massoretic

translation there was no vowel pointing. The vowel
pointing was added 900 to 1000 years after Yeshua
(Jesus). No such vowel pointing exists among the
Dead Sea Scrolls of the Hebrew texts. When the
Jewish scribes replaced the name of YHWH they
noted it in the margin of the text. They then added the
vowel point “qamets” under the Hebrew name
“Adonai” to identify the name YHWH as being read
in its place. This was done 134 times in the Hebrew
Bible according to Dr.Ginsburg.

When Abraham asks them to stay and eat with him

they answered him as one. In verses 5 and 9 we read
the phrase “they said” referring to all three speaking
as one. We found this kind of talk earlier in Genesis
when God spoke in the “our”, “we” and “us” passages
we read earlier. In fact in verse 9 it is “they” who ask
“where is Sarah…” to Abraham. Abraham answers
them and then YHWH speaks using the singular

30
pronoun “I” in verse 10. YHWH speaks to Sarah in
verse 13 again in singular form. This switching off by
Moses who is writing this is very unusual. He has
them speaking as one in unity and then YHWH as
singular. The reason will become clear.

“Then the men rose up from there, and looked down

toward Sodom; and Abraham was walking with them
to send them off.” (Genesis 18:16)

Then the men rose up? The Hebrew word used there
for “men” is “anashim” which is translated literally as
“mortals” as in literal men. Who was Moses referring
to? As we read in verse 2 Abraham saw three men as
well. This is the same Hebrew word as in verse 16,
“anashim” or “mortal men”. Again Moses is referring
to all three as equals in status of being mortal looking
men. No distinction is being made between them in
these two verses.

The next few verses are important to read. YHWH

seems to ask a question either to himself or to the
other two with him.

“And YAHWEH said, Shall I hide from Abraham that

which I am doing? And Abraham shall surely become
a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the
earth shall be blessed in him? For I have known him,
so that whatever he may command his sons and his
house after him, even they may keep the way of
YAHWEH, to do righteousness and justice; to the
intent that YAHWEH may bring on Abraham that
which He has spoken of him. And YAHWEH said, the
cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and their sin is

31
exceedingly heavy. I will go down and see if they have
at all done according to the cry coming to Me. And if
not, I will know. And the men faced around from there
and went toward Sodom. And Abraham was still
standing before YAHWEH.” (Genesis 18:17-22 HRB)

The first thing YHWH asked is if he should hide from

Abraham what he is about to do. He knows that
through Abraham all the nations will be blessed by
him. But the question is asked and who answers? In
verse 20 it is YHWH who seems to answer his own
question, “And YHWH said”. But it’s the response
that reveals something about his answer. In verse 21
the literal Hebrew reads a little differently than the
majority of English Bibles.

“Please, I will descend and I will see her cries that

has come to Me of what they have done, and if not I
will know”

In the Hebrew it is YHWH who asks to descend and

go down to see their cry and what they have done. He
even says “Please” in response. Why would YHWH
respond this way to his own question? Did YHWH
himself descend and go down as he stated? The very
next verse, verse 22, says that the men went toward
Sodom while Abraham was still standing with
YHWH. Why would YHWH respond and plead to go
down to Sodom but not go or did he? We will now
look at chapter 19 of Genesis as the two
men/messengers come to Lot.

After Abraham finished talking to YHWH about not

destroying the cities based on 10 righteous people

32
YHWH walks away and departs from Abraham. The
two messengers reach Sodom in the evening and
come to Lot who is sitting at the gate. As did
Abraham, Lot goes to meet them and when he gets to
them he bows his face to the ground. This is the first
time we see this type of worship to mere messengers.
Why would Lot give this type of homage to mere
messengers or men? Lot then says to them,

"My lords, please turn aside to your servant's house

and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you
may rise up early and go on your way."

Lot directly refers to the messengers as his lords and

his servant to them. If these messengers were created
heavenly beings as some have suggested then how
could Lot bow before them and call them lord and
refer to himself as their servant? These messengers
accepted Lots direct worship to them and did not
correct or rebuke him for such respect. Are we
servants of created angels/messengers?

In the book of Revelation we find John doing

something similar to an angel in chapter 22:8-9 after
he showed John the vision.

“I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things.
And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at
the feet of the angel who showed me these things. But
he said to me, ‘Do not do that. I am a fellow servant
of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of
those who heed the words of this book. Worship God.’
(Revelation 22:8-9 NASB)

33
The angel/messenger rejected John’s worship when
he fell down at his feet. But it’s what he told John that
we should look at carefully. The angel told John not
to do those things but that he was a fellow servant of
John and the prophets. Why didn’t the messengers tell
Lot this very thing when he bowed down and called
them his servant and lord? This seems very
inconsistent if these were really created angels like
the one who spoke to John in Revelation. Maybe
these men/messengers were not created beings but
were looked at by Lot as much more than mere
messengers or men. As we jump forward in Genesis
19 to verses 15-19 we come to where Lot is taken out
of the city with his family by the two messengers.
The messengers instruct Lot and his family not to
look back and to escape to the mountains or they
would be swept away.

“And Lot said to them, ‘Please, no, my master!’

(Genesis 19:18 NASB)

The textual problem with this passage is that Lot did

not call the two messengers “master” or “lords” as the
majority of translations have it. The Hebrew has the
very name of God, YHWH. Lot actually called the
two by the very name YHWH. The more literal
reading should look like this,

“And Lot said to them, ‘No, please, YHWH!’

This translation is confirmed by Massoretic scribes

themselves. They have in the margin of their text a
note of replacement from YHWH to Adonai. This
passage is among the 134 changes that were made by

34
them regarding the name of God. Dr.Ginsburg also
makes note of these changes as well. So what we
really have is Lot addressing the two as YHWH and
not as lords or masters. In the Massoretic translation
of the Hebrew they put vowel points under the
Hebrew letters to identify the word for correct
pronunciation. There are two ways to write “Adonai”
for YHWH and “Adonai” for “lords” or “masters”.
The first way for YHWH is,

‫אֲדנַי‬
As you can see there is a small dash underneath the
nun. This small dash tells the reader that this Hebrew
word should be understood as “lords” or “masters”
and not as YHWH. When the scribes replaced
YHWH for “Adonai” in Genesis 19:18 they could not
replace it with the above translation. They had to put
“Adonai” as shown below.

‫אֲדנָי‬
As you can see, both Hebrew words are spelled the
same except for one small difference. The second
Adonai for YHWH does not have a dash underneath
the nun but has a small “t” shape. This “t” shape is
only used when the scribes want you to know that
YHWH should be in its place. There is no exception
for this understanding. Every time you see “Adonai”
with the “t” shape underneath the nun you should
automatically know that YHWH is meant. If this
same Hebrew word has a dash under the nun then you
35
should know to read “lords” or “masters” and NOT
YHWH. Now we can read Genesis 19:24 and see the
effect it has on scripture.

“And YAHWEH (on earth) rained fire and brimstone

on Sodom and Gomorrah, from YAHWEH out of the
heavens.” (Genesis 19:18 HRB)

This is not two YHWH’s but actually three based on

Lot calling the two messengers by the name YHWH.
The first YHWH left Abraham while the other two
went to see Sodom and Lot. So we can see that
YHWH did go down to Sodom as he said in Genesis
18:21. But do we have more evidence of this
understanding? In Genesis 19:29 we read the
following,

“And it happened when Elohim destroyed the cities

of the plain…” (HRB)

The credit for destroying the cities is not given to

YHWH but to Elohim (they, God). This is also
confirmed by the prophet Amos in chapter 4:11.
Amos has YHWH speaking when he writes,

“I have overturned among you, as Elohim overthrew

Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a firebrand
plucked out of the burning; yet you have not returned
to Me, declares YAHWEH.” (HRB)

We read that YHWH declares Elohim (they, God)

overthrew Sodom but back in Genesis 19:24 it was
YHWH who rained down on Sodom fire from
YHWH out of heaven. Why would YHWH speak in

36
the third person about Elohim if it was really himself
who destroyed the cities? The only explanation is that
within YHWH Elohim there is a plural of persons
who exist as YHWH Elohim.

Nail in the Coffin

After the overthrow of the cities Abraham goes
toward the land of Negev and settles between Kadesh
and Shur. From there he went to Gerar and spoke to
king Abimelech about Sarah being his sister in order
to not be killed by him. God then rescues Sarah by
telling Abimelech to return her back to Abraham. As
Abimelech speaks to Abraham about why he did this
to him, Abraham tells him something very interesting.
Beginning in Genesis 20:12-13 we read the following,

“And yet she really is my sister, daughter of my

father; only not daughter of my mother. And she
became my wife. And it happened when Elohim made
me wander from my father's house, even I said to her,
This is your kindness which you do to me: at every
place where we come there, say of me, He is my
brother.” (HRB)

Abraham begins to explain that Sarah is really his

sister from his father but not his mother. This would
make Sarah his half sister. Then Abraham begins to
explain when God called him to leave his fathers
house and country back in Genesis 12. Let’s read the
literal Hebrew translation from verse 13.

“…and Elohim, they caused me to stray from my

father’s house…”

37
The verb is in the third person plural which then
makes Elohim plural as well. This is a basic rule in
Hebrew grammar. For those who read Hebrew I
posted below the Hebrew text showing the plural
verb.
‫ים‬
֮ ‫לה‬
ִ ‫ּ֮ו֮אתי֮ ֱא‬
ִ ‫ר֮ה ְתע‬
ִ ‫ֲש‬
ֶׁ ‫ְהי֮כַא‬
ִ ‫וַי‬
There should be no question that Abraham referred to
YHWH Elohim as “they” since it was YHWH
himself who called him to leave his fathers house and
country back in Genesis 12. This is also confirmed in
Genesis 24:7 as Abraham recalls YHWH Elohim
(they, God) taking him from his Fathers house. Then
in Genesis 15 we read that it was the Word YHWH,
also called YHWH, which also called Abraham and
confirmed the promise made in Genesis 12 as well.
Finally we read the appearing of the Messenger
YHWH to Hagar. Hagar recognized the Messenger as
YHWH who spoke to her and the El who saw her.
But did the Messenger of YHWH ever confirm and
give the promise to Abraham as well? Moving
forward to Genesis 22 after Isaac is born we read the
following,

“And it happened after these things, Elohim, testing

Abraham said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said,
‘Behold I am here.’ And He said, ‘Please take your
son, Isaac, your only one whom you love, and go into
the land of Moriyah. And there offer him for a burnt
offering on one of the mountains which I will say to
you.’ (Genesis 22:1-2)

38
Here we read Elohim calling Abraham to take his son
Isaac for a burnt offering on mount Moriyah. As
Abraham is about to offer up Isaac the Messenger
YHWH appears to him. The Messenger YHWH calls
down to Abraham from heaven and says,

“Abraham, Abraham… Do not lay your hand on the

boy, nor do anything to him. For now I know that you
fear Elohim and you have not withheld your son, your
only one, from Me.” (Genesis 22:11-12 HRB)

Here again we read the Messenger YHWH making

the claim that Abraham fears Elohim and he did not
withhold his son from Him, the Messenger. We just
read earlier that it was Elohim who told Abraham to
take his son as an offering to him yet we now read
that is was the Messenger, speaking in the third
person about Elohim, whom Abraham didn’t
withhold his son from. This gets even more confusing
when the Messenger calls to Abraham a second time
in verse 15-18 of Genesis 22 and says,

“I have sworn by Myself, declares YAHWEH, that on

account of this thing you have done, and have not
withheld your son, your only son, that blessing I will
bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your seed as
the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is on
the lip of the sea. And your Seed shall possess the
gate of His enemies. And in your Seed shall all the
nations of the earth be blessed, because you have
listened to My voice.”

39
This Messenger YHWH now makes the claim to have
sworn by him that he will multiply Abraham’s seed
and bless him because he listened to His voice. Now
we have the third confirmation of the calling and
blessing of Abrahams descendents by the Messenger.
So now we can see from Genesis 12 to 22 that
YHWH, Word YHWH and Messenger YHWH have
made the promise to Abraham to bless him and
multiply his seed as numerous as the stars in heaven.
All of which are part of the plural name of Elohim
(they, God). There is no way around this
understanding if one only reads the Hebrew Bible and
not just an English translation.

We must understand that during these times, after

Noah and his three sons, the kings like Abimelech
knew about YHWH and even expressed this to
Abraham’s son Isaac in Genesis 26:26-30. Abimelech
knew YHWH was with Isaac and together they made
an oath to not harm each other. Abimelech knew
YHWH was plainly with Isaac. The oral traditions
passed down from Adam to Noah and his sons are
well established concerning the nature of YHWH
Elohim. The rest of the known world that descended
from Noah’s three sons would have understood the
three powers and persons of YHWH Elohim. So we
should see with no surprise when other nations and
kings started to adopt a three person god in their own
culture.

Note: I must make this very clear about the term

“messenger”. In the vast majority of English
translations you will read “angel” as in the “angel of
the LORD” in the Old Testament. This is a very bad

40
translation since the word “angel” is a term derived
from the Greek “aggelos”. The true meaning behind
this Greek word is “messenger” like the Hebrew
equivalent “malach” which also means “messenger”.
Therefore the literal understanding of this word
should be “messenger” as in the “messenger of the
LORD”. The reason for this explanation is because
most people who read “angel” automatically think
created being as in heavenly host of angels created by
God. This is not the case for the word “angel” or
“malach” both of which simply mean “messenger”
and can be applied to God, men or heavenly created
beings. This word, by no means, in the ancient world
would have a meaning of a created being by itself.

41